[ when his eyes turn up to her face, she meets his gaze, this time, refusing to look away. she's confused, frightened, even, but for faraday to find himself suddenly invisible in the world he'd known before, to fade in and out of existence and never truly be seen? that must be his own kind of hell.
carefully, still considering him, she slowly lowers herself down into the grass to kneel beside him. hands clasped in her lap, her eyes are filled with apprehension, but they still hold that special kind of unflappable determination emma has near perfected. she doesn't know what this is, if it's even real, but she's never been the sort of woman to turn away from something just because it's frightening. (she'd seen things through to the very end with bogue, after all, and that had been all manner of terrifying — so why shouldn't she do the same for faraday?) ]
Have you been here this entire time? Since you— since everything ended?
[ had he just been flickering in and out of the periphery of the town's consciousness, appearing and disappearing and all the while going unseen?
...did that mean that all the times she'd thought she'd caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye— that was real? ]
And how long do you...stay like this?
[ because the last time she'd seen him, he'd been gone just as quickly as he'd appeared; something doesn't sit right with her over the idea that she'd catch these brief moments with him, only to watch him vanish before she can even breathe.
she wonders if this is nearly worse than knowing he's at peace. even with the finality of death, it had been with the knowledge that she wouldn't see him again because she couldn't, but this? hearing his voice, being near him, it reminds her all over again of the ache that came with having to say goodbye in the first place. ]
I— [ she stops herself, going quiet.
i'm glad to see you.
is that even what she means to say? is it something she ought to say?
no, she decides. in case this really is just a trick of her mind, it may be best not to let herself truly feel like this is similar to seeing him alive again. ]
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carefully, still considering him, she slowly lowers herself down into the grass to kneel beside him. hands clasped in her lap, her eyes are filled with apprehension, but they still hold that special kind of unflappable determination emma has near perfected. she doesn't know what this is, if it's even real, but she's never been the sort of woman to turn away from something just because it's frightening. (she'd seen things through to the very end with bogue, after all, and that had been all manner of terrifying — so why shouldn't she do the same for faraday?) ]
Have you been here this entire time? Since you— since everything ended?
[ had he just been flickering in and out of the periphery of the town's consciousness, appearing and disappearing and all the while going unseen?
...did that mean that all the times she'd thought she'd caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of her eye— that was real? ]
And how long do you...stay like this?
[ because the last time she'd seen him, he'd been gone just as quickly as he'd appeared; something doesn't sit right with her over the idea that she'd catch these brief moments with him, only to watch him vanish before she can even breathe.
she wonders if this is nearly worse than knowing he's at peace. even with the finality of death, it had been with the knowledge that she wouldn't see him again because she couldn't, but this? hearing his voice, being near him, it reminds her all over again of the ache that came with having to say goodbye in the first place. ]
I— [ she stops herself, going quiet.
i'm glad to see you.
is that even what she means to say? is it something she ought to say?
no, she decides. in case this really is just a trick of her mind, it may be best not to let herself truly feel like this is similar to seeing him alive again. ]